Introduction by Sydney Pollack -- Setting the scene: Duse's blush -- Building a foundation: the reality of doing -- The pinch and the ouch -- The knock on the door -- Beyond repetition -- Preparation: "In the harem of my head" -- Improvisation -- More on preparation: "Quick as a flame" -- The magic "as if" : particularization -- "Making the part your own" -- Some thoughts on actors and on acting -- Final scenes: "Instead of 'merely' the truth" -- "Spring Awakening" by Frank Wedekind -- "A Palm Tree in a Rose Garden" by Meade Roberts -- "Golden Boy" by Clifford Odets -- "The Seagull" by Anton Chekov -- "Summer and Smoke" by Tennessee Williams
Taking readers step-by-step through the most basic acting exercises to critiques of performances in scenes from contemporary American plays, this volume follows a class of eight at the Neighborhood Playhouse, where Meisner has taught for fifty years